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Ben Stokes believes cricket’s relationship with alcohol has not “moved on” as the game has become more professional but denied the England team he captained had a drinking problem.
Stokes ended a 15-year international career in June when his Test side lost to New Zealand, but is continuing to play for his boyhood county Durham.
Speaking in-depth for the first time since retiring in Nottingham, Stokes appeared on For The Love of Cricket, the podcast hosted by his friends and former teammates Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler.
Stokes was asked directly by Broad if his team had a drinking problem, following a series of late-night episodes over the past year, headlined by Harry Brook being punched by a bouncer in Wellington, hours before captaining England in an ODI before the Ashes.
Stokes refuted the allegation: “No … that is such an extreme thing to put on a team.
“But I think cricket has a drinking culture and that has not changed. We are in 2026 now, where the game has gone more professional over the years. But one thing that has just stayed within cricket is its relationship with alcohol, from club cricket it works its way up. It stays there and is embedded within the sport.
“That is the relationship between alcohol and cricket, it has not moved on as the game has become more professional. There’s more science and medicine, more nutritional information, more this and that. One thing that has been a constant, and has been for a very long time, is the relationship with alcohol. For people who think the English cricket team has a drinking culture, I would say no. I would just say cricket has a culture that is associated with alcohol.”
Stokes has had an up and down relationship with alcohol across his career. In 2017 he was arrested for a brawl in Bristol while drunk after an ODI against West Indies, was found not guilty of affray and later gave up alcohol. After England beat New Zealand at Lord’s in June, he went out and was accused of breaking the team’s curfew.
“I think it [cricket’s relationship with alcohol] can be a problem,” he said.
“If you look at everything over the years, a lot of people who have been involved within cricket, have had bad relationships with alcohol. I don’t know what you do to change it. It’s just one of those things that … I have had, I don’t want to say problems, but I’ve had relationships with alcohol over my career that have been potentially dangerous, if that makes sense. But that is completely different to me now.
“There is a relationship with alcohol that has been the same since the 1980s, as the game has got better and better, that has stayed around.”
However, Stokes said he did not regret his decision to take his team for a mid-Ashes trip to the Queensland seaside resort of Noosa last summer, despite scrutiny of their drinking there.
Ashes prospects
There has been much speculation, including from managing director Rob Key, that Stokes could return for next year’s Ashes. He has continued to shut this down, and described himself as “definitely” retired.
Stokes also spoke about how, aged 35, he could not envisage playing on under another captain, unlike his predecessors Root and Alastair Cook, who were both 31 when they stepped down from the captaincy.
The snubbing of Brook
Root has already done a five-year stint as captain before Stokes, but has been installed alongside the new Test coach, Stephen Fleming. Brook will remain in charge of the white-ball side with Brendon McCullum as coach. Key, the managing director, said the Test role had come “too soon” for Brook, who is 27.
“I think just if you think someone’s going to be a good captain or a good leader, then just give them it,” Stokes said.
“Brooky was made vice-captain – I’m not there any more, but even when I missed that Test match, I was like: ‘He’s vice-captain?’ I sort of understood the reasoning why they were saying it, but what message is that sending to him?
“He’s vice-captain, and the captain is not playing, but he’s not captain. And then the same again here [with the permanent role].”
Stokes expressed concern about Root, a close confidant, doing the job after the toll it took during his first stint between 2017 and 2022.
“I love Rooty and I wish him nothing but success,” he said. “I hope he achieves amazing things in his role as captain. He’s going to really enjoy working with Flem. He’s a great man, I’ve worked with him before. I told Joe, I said my only worry is just you.
“And that’s all I really care about now, just because I have seen what he went through and how much he put himself through [last time as captain].
“He’s just always put the team first, like he always comes second. And that’s just my only concern with it is just obviously knowing what he went through last time he was in charge of the team because I don’t want to see that ever happen again because I care for Joe a lot, but I wish him all the success in the world.”
Coaching ambitions
Stokes has taken tentative first steps in coaching in the Hundred, with England Lions and the Durham academy, but has set his sights on coaching England.
“I’m doing my level three coaching [course] now while I’m still playing because I want, when the day comes that I’m not playing any more, I’d love to be able to have all that stuff signed off and done,” he said. “I know what I want to do in terms of staying within the game, which is to be a coach.
“And would I love to be coach of England one day? Absolutely. I just really like the idea of being in some form of leadership away from playing.”
England’s Ashes review
Stokes confirmed that he provided a written a review of England’s Ashes campaign, despite not being asked for an official report.
“I just found it interesting and weird that maybe that’s never happened before,” he said. “Maybe a captain’s never really been [asked], ‘can you give us your official [thoughts]’ … so I was like, stuff it, I’m going to do anyway. I was writing stuff down.”
He said his wife, Claire, and mother-in-law helped him write the report and he made sure it was right “in terms of structure and spelling” because “I didn’t want to do it half-a—- because it was such a big thing for me”.
The response was a “good meeting” with Key and McCullum, who all remained in their job initially. Six months on, only Key survives. Stokes expressed surprise that McCullum was sacked as Test coach, saying his relationship with the coach remained strong despite reports of tactical divergence during the Ashes.
When it came to the Rex Rooms incident that he admits contributed to the end of his career, Stokes said he was “not here to go into all that detail”. He described it as a “sticky situation for quite a few people involved”.
“There’s a time and a place for that,” he said. “And now isn’t that time because I don’t want to come across bitter towards anyone yet because I’m chilled right now.“
The Telegraph, London
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